Inside story of Glasgow’s Jews
Members given tour of city synagogue
The Garnethill Synagogue in the west end of Glasgow was originally established in the High Street in 1823.
By 1879 it had arrived at Garnethill, commanding a panoramic view over Glasgow.
Thirty East Kilbride Probus Club members were met by Howard and Fiona Brodie.
The earliest historical references to Jews in Scotland are from the late 17th century.
The vast majority of Scottish Jews today are Ashkenazi, who mainly settled in Edinburgh, then in Glasgow in the late 19th century. This was mainly to avoid persecution in the Russian Empire.
Howard said that Russian Jews tended to come from the west of the empire, especially the Baltic countries and in particular Lithuania, where his own greatgrandparents had come from.
The vast majority were hoping to use Scotland as a stopping post en route to North America, although those who could not afford the transatlantic voyage ended up settling in the city.
The Garnethill Synagogue now has a congregation of about 100 plus another 100 or so from outwith the immediate area.
Fiona took Probus members through the outline of a service and showed where the women sit separately from the men.
To demonstrate the music Howard sang a hymn of praise to God called the kaddish, which means “holy”. The Torah Ark is positioned at the east end of the synagogue, which is faced while praying.
The building also houses the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, which was formed in 1987. The small museum area features a timeline of Jewish history in Scotland, themed display cases and a display of Jewish immigration over the last 200 years.
Fiona touched on the Jewish dietary laws, such as not eating meat and dairy products at the same meal and how in the kitchen there is completely separate crockery and cutlery, etc, for each of these products.
The Probus visitors were enthralled and Barclay Sinclair thanked Howard and Fiona for a very interesting tour of the synagogue and insight into the Jewish faith.
The next meeting will be the club’s Christmas lunch on Wednesday, December 21, at 12.30pm for 1pm in the Bruce Hotel, East Kilbride.